The Blog of Fly Fishing in New York City's Parks. Currently there are more than two dozen fresh water lakes and ponds open to the public.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Winter fishing in NYC

It is hard to believe that this is the heart of the winter in New York City. Normally temperatures
are the coldest and it can snow the most. Usually, the lakes and ponds are incased in a few inches
of ice. However, there is no ice on the lakes this month; in fact we've had several days with the air temperature exceeding 60F!

With the forecast calling for springlike conditions for the remainder of the week, I decided to
test the waters and go carp fishing in Central Park's Loeb Lake. I have never caught fish at this time of the year. I had to scramble around to find a couple of loaves of old bread to use as chum. I mixed them with a can of corn I found in my pantry.

When I arrived at the lake, I saw no one fishing. I chummed and put my fiberglass fly rod together.
It is my three piece, 6 foot, 10 inch, 7 weight made by Fenwick. I had "hair rigged" several hooks
with fake corn and split shot.

It was a pleasant day to be fishing. It was warm, sunny and nearly windless. The lake looked as if it were a spring day in April.

Fake corn and deer hair flies I use for carp

Ninety minutes of sitting and waiting for the first bite of 2017 past before I decided to pull the plug and go home. I got not one bite. I saw no evidence that fish were feeding. Yes I was "skunked"
but I realized that inspite of the unusually warm weather, it is still the dead of WINTER. I should be
skiing at Lapland Lake in the Adirondacks.